Does anyone here have experience with buying owned domains? There are obviously far more out there that already have an owner, even if they are just squatting at the moment. Does existing ownership put you off? Do you have a system for wrangling the domain from its owner?
yes, it's called negotiating. you look them up, email/call/send a letter expressing your interest after thoroughly researching and start with a price that isn't going to offend and end negotiations instantly or just have your contact get ignored/thrown away.
Squatting? Unless they are infringing on people's TMs, etc. they are not squatting. You need to learn the correct terms about the domaining industry.
I agree "squatting" is perhaps not the most suitable word. They are registrants (some would say owners). The names are rightfully theirs for the duration of the registration period, unless of course, someone else has legal rights to those names that precede those of the registrants. ------------------------
To buy from them, you could find their contact information through WHOIS records. Using the administrative contact info, you then tactfully approach the subject of sale. People differ on how best to do this... You could be upfront and make your offer there and then. You could be coy... You could simply "feel them out" to see just where they stand and perhaps fish around to see what they put out there, if anything. Ultimately, you want what they have and they are under no obligation to convey it to you, so it's up to you to come up with a winning strategy. ...And of course, there may be others who approached them before you so you want to make sure that you stand out, in one way or another. .
Sorry, squatting was perhaps the wrong term. I mean people that own the domain with the express intention of selling it on again.
Yea, I've done it before. You can email them (make sure it looks like a written email, not spam), or if you want to be more serious, you can call them.
I've tried a few times, however more often than not in my experience they want silly money for the domain.
if possible call them better than email , usually when i email someone, they send huge counter offer , i have experienced when you call them in real life that kind of thing doesn't happen
I have purchased many good domains from their previous owners. And I think it is not that hard. It is mostly based on the type of domain you are looking for and your budget. If this ratio is poor enough then you will have hard time getting one. And if the ratio is good enough then it is very easy to buy domains
yes try whois on that domain you will have there the information for contact the owner if the domain name dosen`t have privacy
do some research, there are cases when the whois info is private so you wont really get any valuable information from that, usually if the domain owner is shopping the domain, he will leave a way for any interested parties to contact them.
I just recently got a domain I wanted through contacting the owner. As long as the price is right, you can get just about any domain you want.
I've bought several domains from current owners. Some for quite a bit of money. The key is going in with a good idea of what it's worth to you and offering a reasonable sum. I've also been contacted to sell domains and there's nothing that puts you off like some clown offering you $1 for a 3 letter common word name.